First Pres Blog

The Line Between Good and Evil

We are all reeling this week as Las Vegas has suffered the worst shooting rampage in U.S. history. One man wreaked terrible havoc and took the lives of 59 innocents, injuring over 500 more. We pause to pray for all those in the hospital and for all of those entering grief over the loss of a loved one or friend.

Why?

Then we pause and ask why. This man Stephen, by most accounts from the outside, was a seemingly ordinary man. But somehow for him, in his own mind, what he did on Sunday night was the right next step for him. In his mind it was the next rational thing to do. Setting up his armory in the hotel room and opening fire was perfectly reasonable in his own mind. We have to pause—we must pause—and recognize the chilling effects of evil.

Our attention-grabbing national media outlets might suggest that the line coming into relief this week is the line between Republicans and Democrats. But the line we must clearly see as Christians is the line between good and evil. Something in this man’s life marched him straight across that line right into evil, and to him it made perfect sense.

Two Paths

Proverbs 14:12 says, “There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death.” There is a path to destruction. There is a way to point your feet and direct your life that leads directly into evil. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn wrote, “Gradually it was disclosed to me that the line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either—but right through every human heart—and through all human hearts.” The path to destruction is open to every one of us. But so is the path of life, found in Jesus Christ.

We pray for Las Vegas. We pray for our nation and our national discourse. We pray most of all for the consolation of those who grieve and the healing of those who suffer. And let’s also pray that many see the line drawn straight through the human heart between good and evil, between life and death—and that they choose life.

Visit My First Pres and "Manage E-Newsletters" to receive messages like this one from our pastors by email each Tuesday, along with links to First Pres news.